In Germany, cutting a dog’s ears or tail just to make it look ‘better’ is prohibited by law.
The law allows the procedure only if a veterinarian justifies it for health reasons, or in very specific cases involving hunting dogs where it is essential for their work. Everything else is excluded: no scissors for fashion, breed, or beauty standards.
What few people know is that those ears and that tail are the dog’s language. With them, it expresses fear, alertness, confidence, or a desire to play. That is why Germany went further: if a dog was mutilated without medical justification, it cannot even compete in dog shows. Cutting off a dog’s language, even for aesthetic reasons, comes at a price.
